The press release issued by HM Treasury on 14 May 2002.

New £40 million investment funds to boost enterprise in disadvantaged communities by increasing access to finance for local entrepreneurs opened for business today.

The Bridges Community Development Venture Funds, supported by £20m of Government money and £20m from private investors, will only invest in businesses that will regenerate local economies in the most deprived areas of England. The Funds are launched today as new figures from the British Venture Capital Association show a record rise by 24% of investment in UK start-up companies.

Speaking at a breakfast event for investors co-hosted in Downing Street by Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt, Chancellor Gordon Brown said:

“Britain needs an economy that must work not just for some people some of the time, but for all of the people all of the time; too many people are left out of the British success. Even at a time of record investment in start-up businesses by venture capital, we can and must do better.

The key to neighbourhood renewal is not more benefit offices but more businesses, which is why these new Funds are crucial to opening up opportunities and encouraging and rewarding enterprise. They will help dynamic and fast-growing enterprises to prove that deprived areas are not no-go areas for business but sources of future growth and entrepreneurship”.

Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt said:

It is essential that Government meet the challenge of enterprise with new incentives to reward entrepreneurship. Small businesses are the key to future growth everywhere, and nowhere more important than in high unemployment areas.

These new funds will enable entrepreneurs in deprived areas to maximise access to all of the opportunities that the UK economy presents.”

The funds will be run as commercial operations by a newly established management team of professional venture capitalists, operating on standard venture capital principles. This means that they will look to provide capital to businesses that will be successful and grow strongly, bringing deprived areas the growth-enhancing benefits of the venture capital model.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 2 May 2002.

Barracks and prisons to be replaced by business and prosperity

The Government today announced a new £200m economic settlement for Northern Ireland, in addition to the transfer of military and security buildings for community use. Details were unveiled during a visit to Belfast by the Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Chancellor Gordon Brown.

The package, put together by the UK Government and the offices of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister on behalf of the Executive, includes:

• New powers for the Northern Ireland Executive to borrow up to £125m over two years;
• A further £75m made available from the Executive’s unallocated resources;
• Free transfer of the Maze Prison, Crumlin Road Goal, Ebrington Barracks and army bases at Magharafelt and Malone Road Belfast to devolved control for community use;
• A new strategic investment body for Northern Ireland to offer a strategic and coordinated approach to infrastructure investment in public services.

Speaking during a visit to the Odyssey Centre, the Chancellor said:

“Ex-army bases and prisons scar Northern Ireland’s landscape and symbolise the period of conflict. We want these sites to symbolise peace and prosperity and become the engine of economic and social regeneration in local areas. In place of the symbols of the old conflict and despair, there will be symbols of the new progress and hope – barracks and prisons of the past replaced by business and prosperity for the future.

The Northern Ireland Executive will have for the first time, new powers to borrow on its own account, raising spending power and offering greater economic freedom to make important decisions about new investment in infrastructure and public services. And we will help the Executive to develop a Strategic Investment Body for Northern Ireland to bring together the best expertise available to help to raise growth and competitiveness to the benefit of the people and business community of Northern Ireland.

This new momentum for reinvestment must be matched with reform, through more efficient use of resources and better managed services, delivering best value for money and high quality investment.

The economic settlement is a concrete demonstration of what can be achieved with devolution and offers faith in the future: the chance to build peace with prosperity and create an economy of opportunity for all.”

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 26 June 2002.

The Prime Minister has announced today the appointment of Gus O’Donnell as Permanent Secretary to the Treasury in succession to Sir Andrew Turnbull, recently appointed Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Home Civil Service.

Commenting on the appointment, the Chancellor Gordon Brown said:

“Sir Andrew Turnbull is an outstanding public servant and his promotion to Cabinet Secretary is very well deserved. Sir Andrew has played a crucial role over the past four years in helping raise the level of professionalism and expertise in the Treasury and strengthening the department’s capacity, working alongside other Government departments, to push forward public sector reform. I am delighted to welcome Gus O’Donnell, who has been a first-rate Managing Director of Macroeconomic Policy and International Finance, as the new Permanent Secretary to the Treasury.”

Gus O’Donnell said:

“I am delighted and honoured to have been appointed Permanent Secretary. It is a privilege to be taking over from Sir Andrew Turnbull. I look forward to building on his achievements in making the Treasury a more professional and diverse department, and in working with other Government departments to deliver better public services, a higher sustainable rate of economic growth and rising prosperity and improved employment opportunities for all.”

Gus O’Donnell’s successor as Managing Director, Macroeconomic Policy and International Finance will be Jon Cunliffe, currently Managing Director, Finance Regulation and Industry. Jon Cunliffe’s successor will be appointed in due course by open competition.

Notes to Editors

The new appointments will take effect from next month.

2. Gus O’Donnell will remain Head of the Government Economic Service. As Managing Director, Macroeconomic Policy and International Finance (MPIF), Jon Cunliffe will be the G7 Deputy and the UK Government’s representative on the EU’s Economic and Finance Committee. As before, the Permanent Secretary and Managing Director MPIF will share responsibility for being the Treasury representative on the Monetary Policy Committee and the OECD’s WP3 Committee. As before, the Head of MPIF and the Chief Economic Adviser to the Treasury, Ed Balls, will sit on the International Monetary and Financial Committee Deputies’ Committee, with Mr Balls as the Chairman. Ed Balls will continue to be the G20 Deputy.

3. Gus O’Donnell, 49, has been Managing Director, Macroeconomic Policy and International Finance since 1999. From 1998-9 he was Director of Macroeconomic Policy and Prospects, and from 1997-98 was the UK’s Executive Director to the IMF and World Bank. He has been Head of the Government Economics Service since 1998. Mr O’Donnell studied economics at the University of Warwick and Nuffield College Oxford. He joined the Treasury as an economist in 1979, having spent four years as an economics lecturer at the University of Glasgow. Subsequent posts in Government included being Press Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1989-90) and Press Secretary to the Prime Minister (1990-94). Mr O?Donnell is married with one daughter. His interests include football, cricket, golf and tennis.

4. Jon Cunliffe, 49, has been Managing Director, Finance Regulation and Industry, since 2001. He was previously Director, Macroeconomic Policy and International Finance, leading Treasury work on the international financial system, its institutions (IMF, World Bank etc), the G7 summit and non-EU economies. Previous jobs in the Treasury have included leading the Treasury’s work on operational independence of the Bank of England and on European Monetary Union, management of the Government’s foreign currency reserves, UK Alternate Director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Public Sector Pay. Mr Cunliffe joined the civil service in 1980 and spent the early part of his career in the Departments of Environment and Transport.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 17 June 2002.

The Chancellor has appointed Alan Cook as the new Chief Executive of National Savings and Investments (NS&I).

In announcing this appointment Ruth Kelly, Financial Secretary to the Treasury said:

“I look forward to working with Alan Cook. He brings a wealth of relevant financial services experience to the post. I am confident that he is the right man to lead the Agency into the future and to build on the successes of his predecessor, Peter Bareau.

“Mr Bareau achieved a lot in his six years as Chief Executive. He has overseen a critical period for the NS&I, leading it through a period of considerable, but vital, change. This has made NS&I better placed to compete in the market place and to assist in the cost-effective financing of the government debt. I am very grateful to Mr Bareau for his significant contribution.”

Notes for Editors

1. Alan Cook has been appointed Chief Executive, and Director of Savings, of the National Savings and Investments Agency. This appointment is subject to the usual pre-appointment checks and to signature of contract. He is being appointed on an initial five-year contract. He will take up his position on 30 September.

2. Mr Cook is currently Chief Operating Officer (UK and Europe) of Prudential. He has had a long career in the financial services market. Previous posts have included Chief Executive of Insurance Services, and Managing Director of Retail Insurance Operations at Prudential. He is a fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute.

3. Mr Cook is 48 and is married with three children. Mr Cook succeeds Mr Peter Bareau CBE, who has served two full terms.

4. National Savings and Investments is a government department and an Agency of the Chancellor. Its principal objective is to assist in the financing of the government’s debt, by borrowing in the retail market at an overall cost that is cheaper than the wholesale market.

5. Through its partnerships with Siemens Business Services (SBS) and Post Office Limited (POL), National Savings and Investments markets and sells a range of savings products to the public. There is currently about £62bn invested in National Savings and Investments products, which accounts for about 20% of net government debt.

6. National Savings and Investments employs about 120 staff, who are mostly located at its head office in London.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 17 June 2002.

Adjudicator for National Savings and Investments

Mr Roger Yeomans MA has been appointed under Section 84 of the Friendly Societies Act 1992 to be the independent Adjudicator for National Savings and Investments.

Press Office
HM Treasury
Parliament Street
London
SW1P 3AG
020 7270 5238

1. Mr Yeomans, aged 42, succeeds Mr David Farrington, who served two full terms. He is an Ombudsman in the Banking & Loans Division of the Financial Ombudsman Service, and was the Building Societies Ombudsman until 1 December 2001. He is a solicitor whose earlier career was in private practice, after which he worked as a Corporate Lawyer with Alliance & Leicester Building Society.

2. Under the terms of Section 84 of the Friendly Societies Act 1992, the Treasury has the power to appoint an independent adjudicator to hear disputes between National Savings and Investments customers and the Director of Savings. The power of the Adjudicator to hear disputes derives from Section 10 of the National Savings Bank Act 1971, Section 5 of the National Debt Act 1972 and in a number of Statutory Instruments.

3. The legislation provides for disputes between investors and the Director of Savings to be referred to the Adjudicator, in writing, only where a claim has been made on, and declined, by the Director.

4. The Adjudicator is supported by a secretariat. Their address is: Secretary to the Adjudicator for National Savings and Investments, 1st floor, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9SR.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 14 June 2002.

A new government initiative designed to encourage public sector buyers to consider the potential benefits of tendering with smaller suppliers was announced today by Paul Boateng, Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Nigel Griffiths, DTI’s Minister for Small Business.

The publication ‘Smaller Supplier… Better Value?’ is part of the ‘Think Small First’ drive which urges all parts of government to think about their role in supporting the enterprise society.

Published jointly by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and the Small Business Service (SBS), the booklet seeks to raise awareness of the greater competition and better value small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can bring to the marketplace.

Paul Boateng said:

“Increasing awareness of the potential benefits of doing business with SMEs helps to increase their share of government business.  The increased competition generated should improve value for money in public sector purchasing.”

Nigel Griffiths added:

“My priority as Small Business Minister is to increase access to tendering.  Small businesses have so much value to offer, through greater innovation, increased responsiveness, greater flexibility, better quality of service and specialist skills.

“We’ve already published a guide for small businesses on how to approach tenders and this companion will help square the circle by urging public sector buyers to look at the potential benefits of offering tenders to small business suppliers.”

Peter Gershon, Chief Executive of the Office of Government Commerce said:

“Smaller suppliers can often offer better value for money than larger companies.  Public sector purchasers always try to obtain value for money.  I want them to ask themselves regularly whether a smaller supplier may offer the best solution.”

The booklet refers to the challenges that SMEs often face when bidding for government business, such as finding it difficult to learn about opportunities, believing that bidding processes are complex and costly, or because they think they are too small to cope with the capacity of many of the advertised contracts.

Along with each of these challenges, the booklet puts forward best-practice solutions as to what departments could do to help, such as publicising opportunities through Business Links, keeping tender documentation jargon-free and dividing contracts into lots where appropriate.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 5 June 2002.

Further improvement in vital public services will be more readily achievable through a new website sharing evidence which underpins key Government policies, Chief Secretary Paul Boateng announced today.

Launching the website www.addingitup.gov.uk, Mr Boateng said:

“The Adding It Up website marks a significant further step forward in improving public services.

“It will enable Government Departments to enhance their store of important evidence used to determine the right policies to meet Government objectives, and to share the most up to date information about their own evidence base.

“It will further strengthen the policy making process and, perhaps most importantly, influence the research community and stimulate debate to generate positive approaches to make further progress in the vital area of public service improvement.”

Under the Adding It Up initiative major spending Departments have been asked to set out evidence organised according to their Public Service Agreement (PSA) Objectives. They have provided references to :

• the most important research that has informed policy choice
• set out work in progress that may influence future policy choices
• programmes already in place to strengthen the evidence base further.

The website actively seeks to stimulate debate with outside experts. Its aim is to give the research community wider perspectives on policy research priorities while also opening up Departments’ evidence bases, enabling them to gain insights from research activity being carried out elsewhere.

The initial information contained in the website will be regularly updated and expanded to reflect the debate generated and the improvement of the evidence base over time.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 26 June 2001.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, has decided the following allocation of Ministerial responsibilities:

The Chief Secretary, The Rt Hon Andrew Smith MP

• Public expenditure planning and control (including local authorities and nationalised industries finance);
• Value for money in the public services, including Public Service Agreements (PSAs);
• Departmental Investment Strategies including Capital Modernisation Fund and Invest to Save budget;
• Public/Private Partnerships including Private Finance Initiative;
• Procurement policy;
• Public sector pay;
• Presentation of economic policy and economic briefing;
• Welfare reform;
• Devolution;
• Strategic oversight of banking, financial services and insurance; and
• Resource Accounting and Budgeting.

The Paymaster General, Dawn Primarolo MP

• Strategic oversight of taxation as a whole, including overall responsibility for the Finance Bill, closer working between Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise (including with other departments), and European and international tax issues;
• Departmental Minister for Inland Revenue and the Valuation Office;
• Personal taxation (except company car tax, savings and pensions), national insurance contributions and tax credits;
• Direct business taxation and tax aspects of the enterprise agenda, including: corporation tax, North Sea taxation, share schemes, small firms and venture capital;
• Capital Gains Tax;
• Inheritance Tax;
• Treasury interest in childcare issues;
• Regulatory Reform Minister for the Chancellor’s departments; and
• Welfare Reform Group (welfare fraud).

The Financial Secretary, The Rt Hon Paul Boateng MP

• Departmental Minister for Customs and Excise;
• Environmental issues, including tax and other economic instruments, urban regeneration and transport taxes, including climate change levy, aggregates levy, landfill tax, road fuel (and other mineral oil) duties, taxation of company cars, vehicle excise duty, air passenger duty;
• VAT; alcohol and tobacco duties; betting and gaming taxation;
• Support to the Paymaster General on the Finance Bill;
• Productivity and enterprise (working with PMG on tax issues);
• Competition and deregulation policy;
• Science, research and development;
• Export credit;
• Welfare to Work and social exclusion issues;
• Charities and charity taxation;
• Support to the Chancellor on international issues; and
• Support to the Chief Secretary on public spending issues (including Parliamentary financial business, Public Accounts Committee, National Audit Office and general accountancy issues).

The Economic Secretary, Ms Ruth Kelly MP

• Banking, financial services and insurance, and support to the Chief Secretary on the implementation of the Financial Services and Markets Act;
• Financial services tax issues, including ISAs, taxation of savings, Stamp Duty, Insurance Premium Tax and pensions;
• Foreign exchange reserves and debt management policy;
• Support to the Chancellor on EU issues;
• EMU business preparations;
• Economic reform in Europe;
• Responsibility for National Savings, the Debt Management Office, National Investment and Loans Office, Office for National Statistics, Royal Mint and the Government Actuary’s Department;
• Personal savings policy;
• Support to the Chief Secretary and Financial Secretary on public spending and productivity issues;
• Support to the Paymaster General on the Finance Bill;
• Womens’ issues; and
• Departmental Minister for HM Treasury.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 28 December 2022.

As millions of people enjoyed Christmas festivities this year, for 3,275, Christmas Day was the perfect time to file their Self Assessment tax return, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has revealed.

A total of 22,060 customers went online to submit their form for the 2021 to 2022 tax year between 24 and 26 December 2022, and 141 opted to file between 23:00 and 23:59 on Christmas Eve, meaning they could enjoy celebrations knowing their tax return was complete.

The breakdown of figures for those who opted to file during the festive period are:

• Christmas Eve: 8,474 tax returns were filed. The peak time for filing was between 11:00 and 11:59, when 888 returns were received.
• Christmas Day: 3,275 tax returns were filed. The peak time for filing was between 12:00 and 12:59, when 319 returns were received.
• Boxing Day: 10,311 tax returns were filed. The peak time for filing was between 12:00 and 12:59, when 953 returns were received.

The deadline to file and pay any tax owed for the 2021 to 2022 tax year is 31 January 2023, and HMRC is urging customers to submit their tax return on time or they may face a penalty.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Services, said:

We are grateful to those customers who have already filed their tax returns. For anyone who is yet to make a start, help is available on GOV.UK, just search ‘Self Assessment’ to find out more.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 25 June 2001.

The Government’s commitments to delivering high quality public services, making further inroads into tackling child poverty, and boosting productivity, were highlighted today by the Chief Secretary Andrew Smith as he set out the framework and cross cutting reviews that will make up the 2002 Spending Review. In answer to a written Parliamentary Question from Jackie Lawrence MP he announced seven initial cross cutting reviews covering:

• Children at risk
• the public sector labour market
• improving the public space
• health inequalities
• science and research
• services for small business; and
• the role of the voluntary sector

He has also written to Cabinet colleagues setting out the priorities for the 2002 Spending Review:

• Delivery of high quality, efficient and responsive public services;
• Raising productivity, in the public sector and outside, through improved skills, research and infrastructure;
• Spreading opportunity and prosperity more widely, and tackling child poverty and social exclusion;
• Improving the quality of life in both urban and rural areas; and
• Securing a modern international role for Britain through co-operation with our European and international partners.

Mr Smith said:

“Delivery of improved public services is the priority for this Government.  Gordon Brown’s spending committee PSX will be looking closely, in the coming months, at the evidence on the effectiveness of existing programmes and, in particular, at how Departments are delivering their current Public Service Agreement targets, alongside discussion of Department’s future strategic priorities. Where the evidence to date is of unsatisfactory performance, and a failure to stay on track to meet PSA targets, we will need a clear diagnosis of the problem and a clear path for reform and management change.

Where new spending is proposed, we will expect to see stretching targets and clear plans for effective delivery of results.”

PSX, supported by the Treasury and the new Delivery Unit in the Cabinet Office, will start a series of meetings in July to look at specific delivery issues. This process will run through the autumn when PSX will be discussing forward strategy with Departments alongside performance to date against PSA targets.

The Spending Review will take a thorough look at all programmes to ensure that the new plans fully reflect the Government’s priorities and the scope for greater efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery.